Coffee? Tea? Me?
by Freemont23
Summary: Teddy works as a full time barista in a small coffee shop to pay the bills. Billy needs a quiet, yet stimulating place to work on his thesis paper. Sometime you don't have to look too far for good coffee, good company and the muse you were hoping for.
Looking out over my make shift command center, I take a quick inventory of everything.

Handy-dandy laptop? Check.

A full battery and plug for said laptop? Check.

My essential notebook full of even more essential notes? Check.

My favorite table in the corner of my favorite coffee shop? Check.

A direct line of sight to the coffee counter where my crush is busy at work? BIG CHECK.

With everything in order I know that I need to get back to work on my thesis, but I can't help but stare over the top of my laptop monitor. My aforementioned crush, a.k.a. 'Teddy', was hard at work behind the counter making lattes and cappuccinos for a large gaggle of blonds who were clearly ogling him as he worked. This type of scene was not uncommon on any given day here at the coffee shop. Teddy was a full-time barista here and he was a good one. His coffee was some of the best in the city, well as far as I was concerned anyway.

But Teddy's coffee skills weren't the only reason why the coffee shop was nearly always flooded with girls; this particular coffee shop had a very smart business strategy – hire aspiring actors/actresses/models or all around beautiful people to work. This strategy, as demeaning as it sounds, worked like a charm. Teddy is _gorgeous._ And when I say gorgeous, I don't mean 'he's a pretty good looking guy'. If the Sun God Apollo has a son, Teddy would be it. With lightly tanned skin, piercing blue eyes, golden hair and a body that male models and body builders alike would envy? He attracted attention. A lot of attention, hence the swarm of females that invaded the coffee shop daily.

To teddy's credit, he didn't seem to mind the attention, but he didn't take advantage of it either, not like some of the other workers in the shop. Heaven knew any other guy who got a fraction of the attention Teddy did would have an ego the size of Manhattan, but not Teddy. He was truly a nice guy, or at least as far as I could tell he was. Although I haven't actually had a full conversation with the guy, like ever, aside from ordering my coffee and occasional pastry, I can tell from his interactions with customers that he genuinely cares about people and not in a fake customer service kind of way.

Lost in my train of thought, I quickly forget that I am staring and I only realize it when Teddy looks up from making yet another coffee creation to glance directly in my direction. Out of reflex and habit, I immediately lower my gaze back down to my computer screen, pretending to be hard at work. _'Aaaaand I'm blushing. Dammit cheeks! We've talked about this! Just because he looks over in this direction does not mean he was looking at me, which means I shouldn't be blushing!'_ Luckily for me my laptop screen is high enough to effectively duck behind without looking like a _total_ loser.

"You're so cute when you're flustered. Truly, it's adorable."

Looking up at the sound of my best friends' voice, I frown deeply and immediately look back towards my screen. "Shut up Kate, you don't know what you're talking about."

With a small chuckle, Kate takes the seat to the left of me and plops her bag down on the floor. "Uh huh, you want me to believe that you don't blush every single time your favorite barista happens to glance over in this direction?" Her lifted eyebrow and self-satisfied smirk say it all. She knows exactly why I sit in this particular seat at this particular table. I've been working on my thesis paper here for the past four weeks straight. Monday through Friday. Eight in the morning to roughly four in the afternoon. These hours have nothing to do with Teddy's schedule. Nope. It was just a coincidence. Really.

I can't help but hear a small chime of victory go off in my mind. _'Achievement unlocked: Stalker status!'_ But I can't help it, not only does he make the best coffee, but he has become somewhat of a muse to me. Whenever I try to work on my thesis at home I can't seem to throw myself into my work. Here at the coffee shop? Hours fly by and the more coffee I drink the more pages I write. It's win, win! Except for the fact that once Kate figured out one of the _other_ reasons why I started coming here so often, a.k.a Teddy, she feels the uncontrollable need to tease me about my crush; and occasionally share a table, hence her sudden appearance.

"Oh come on Billy, you know I'm only teasing you. And I only tease you because I love you." She says with a small smile and those puppy dog eyes she knows I can't resist. "So, aside from scoping out Teddy, what else have you been up to? Any progress on the thesis?" Reaching down for her bag, she pulls out her own laptop, a new MacBook Air. Kate always seems to have the newest technology, whether its cell phones, laptops or tablets. My laptop is nearly seven years old; it takes five minutes to boot up and is likely to die at any given moment. To her credit Kate's offered to upgrade me multiple times, but I like to get the full use out of my tech before I retire it. But seeing as how my laptop has had a tendency to overheat lately, I may have to take her up on her most recent offer sooner than I'd like.

"I only just got here actually. I was going to finish setting up my command center and then head over to order my coffee once the Barbies cleared out…but at this rate they'll be here all day." Glancing back over at the coffee counter, the blonds have already received their coffee and pastries, but they are clearly lingering to ogle their handsome barista. To his credit, Teddy doesn't seem to notice the girls. That's one of his many good points; Teddy always seems focused on his work. He isn't a much of a flirter and he doesn't feed into the attention. And when it comes to having to shoo people out of the way so other paying customers could get their items, he is always polite.

"No worries, I'll brave the swarm of estrogen. It's my turn to buy anyway." Kate chirps, slipping out of her seat before I can protest.

Realizing what she's doing I reach out to stop her before she can scamper away but she's too quick for me to catch. "Wait, Kate I-! Annnnd she's gone…" Kate knows that one of my few pleasures is the very short interactions I get to have with Teddy when I order my coffee. But Kate, the 'matchmaker extraordinaire' as she likes to refer to herself, is always looking for the opportunity to interact with Teddy…to drop hints about me. The first time she did it, I was mortified. My best friend had turned traitor. Of course the word 'traitor' may be a bit of an over exaggeration. But the first time Kate had offered to get me a refill only to casually mention to Teddy that her 'best friend over in the corner says you make the best cup of coffee in the city'? I'd nearly died. I swear, I was blushing for a full hour afterward, not to mention securely ducked down behind my computer screen to make myself as unnoticeable as possible.

Ever since Kate's 'little hint', I have noticed Teddy smile at me when I walk into the coffee shop, but I don't want to read too much into that. I mean to be fair, he smiles at everyone when they walk in. So why would I be an exception, right?

* * *

"Large vanilla latte, extra hot." Sliding the coffee towards yet another giggling blond, I smile politely before glancing back towards the corner table. _He's_ back. And he's not alone. He's been coming into the shop for weeks now; always the same table, always the same seat. Normally this would have irritated me, I don't like people who set up shop in the coffee house and stayed all day, hogging the wifi connection and the good tables next to the windows, but this guy is different…

"Thank you…" The blonde's overly bubbly voice pulls my attention away from my thoughts. _'Speaking of irritating…'_ Tearing my gaze away from the boy in the corner is the last thing I want to do, but my mother raised me right; you never ignore someone when they are right in front of you. Even if they were the living embodiment of a Barbie.

"You're welcome. Have a great day!" I flash another smile, out of politeness, but this only seems to encourage the girl, who promptly flutters her fake eyelashes at me. She looks like she's about to say something else when the cashier calls out another order to me. _'Thank goodness for small miracles.'_

Without giving the blonde a second thought, I move away from the drop off section of the counter and grab two cups to begin the next order. As soon as I hear what the two beverages are I know who they're for. The boy in the corner, Billy, and his female friend Kate. Truth be told, even if the guy hadn't been coming in five days a week for last four weeks, not that I'd been counting or anything, I'd have memorized the guy's order; it was exactly how I like my coffee. Large house coffee with two pumps of sugar free vanilla and room for cream and sugar. Simple, easy and cheap. His friend on the other hand liked it black with two pumps of toffee nut for a touch of sweetness.

The orders are quick and simple, which normally I like. However whenever Billy orders his coffee, I have to curse how short the interaction is. I normally like getting the orders out as quickly as I can, but with Billy its different. Aside from making him his coffee and occasionally wiping down the tables when the coffee shop slows down, I don't have any other chances to interact with the guy. Although I want to talk to him, ask him what he does all day on his laptop, ask him what he likes to do on the weekends…there just never seems like the right time or opportunity to start a conversation.

My one hope at making a connection with Billy? Kate, Billy's best friend and coffee shop buddy. If I have any hope of having a real conversation with him, it'll be because Kate does the introducing. She obviously wants to tell me about Billy. I mean one of the first things she'd ever said to me, aside from her coffee order, was the fact that her best friend thought I made the best coffee in the city. If that wasn't a compliment I don't know what is. Smiling at the memory, I don't notice when Kate comes to stand in front of me.

"You look pleased about something. Did one of those girls slip you their number or something?" Kate asked as she leans a hip against the counter, her arms crossed against her chest. She looks…curious and a little amused by something.

"Nope, no numbers. I don't ever keep them anyway, I'm not interested." It's true, I don't like being pursued. Call me old fashioned, but I like to do the chasing. Not that I've been doing any chasing lately. I'm only interested in one person and although he is fully aware of my existence, I just cant figure out how to get close to him.

"I was actually thinking about the first day I met you, Kate. Your comment was really flattering and I took it to heart."

"Oh? That's interesting…I mean, I wasn't lying, Billy really does think you make the best coffee in the city. To be honest, he won't go anywhere else. This place has really become his home away from home these past few weeks. I don't know what he's going to do once he finishes his thesis." Kate says casually as I hand her both coffees.

"He's working on a thesis?" Out of all the things I'd considered, Billy working on a thesis paper had not been one of them. Playing video games all day? Sure. Writing a novel or web comic? Totally saw that. Somehow, him coming here day after day to write a thesis paper seemed…endearing, attractive even. Intelligence was hot. "What's the topic?" I ask curiously, eager for more information on him, anything that might give me a chance to strike up a conversation with him.

"Honestly? I don't know a lot about it. He's pretty secretive about the topic. Whenever I ask him, he skirts around the subject. I know it has something to do with Captain America, but other than that? No clue. But I don't blame him for the secrecy; Billy's always been a target at school for one reason or another. Hiding his thesis topic might seem odd to an outsider, but to me? It's just another way for him to protect himself." Kate looks genuinely upset by this. Billy doesn't look like the confrontational type. I'm sure he could hold his own in a fight, but at the same time, he's not built like me…Billy was definitely more of a scraper, not a brawler.

"Anyway, I'll come back in a bit for some snacks. We'll talk more then, ok?" When I nod, Kate heads back over to the table and hands over the coffee to Billy, who is still ducked behind the monitor. Looking back at the way the two have interacted with one another these past few weeks I realize that not only is Kate Billy's best friend, she's also somewhat of a protector as well. Although I don't have a relationship with the guy, I can't help but feel gratitude towards her.

' _Maybe someday I'll be the one to protect him…'_ One can only hope, and dream…


End file.
